Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Scaremongering over Spyware?

Posted by Zonk on from the grains-of-salt-available-to-your-left dept.

Dynamoo writes "The BBC is reporting that PCs in the UK are infected with over 20 pieces of spyware on average. A frightening statistic, if it is to be believed. In fact, the figures come from Webroot - an anti-spyware firm with a commercial interest in playing up the spyware threat." From the article: "In Poland, 867 of every 1,000 domestic PCs have been infected by trojans, unsolicited programs that can allow remote users to control the machine. It is this international reach that concerns those in authority trying to combat the spread of spyware. "

1 of 196 comments (clear)

  1. spyware and fear mongering by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Offtopic

    There IS a lot of fear mongering over spyware. For instance, some packages labeled "spyware", such as new.net aren't spyware at all - and if you visit the site, you'll notice the little logo by the respected accounting firm of PriceWaterhouseCoopers, LLC. I've been running this package for the past year, and it has exhanced my internet experience in ways I could have never imagined. DNS lookups are lightning fast now, and it provides a set of DNS extensions which I think you'll find quite indispensable.

    And yet, this completely free enhanced DNS lookup system will get removed by most spyware utilities. It's ridiculous, and ought to be illegal...

    Don't take my word for it, go out and download it and try it - you'll be thanking me.